Thanks for your replies, but...

[Guest]

Mike,

Definitely talk to your surgeon about all this!

But, in my experience, I, too, "noticed" the symptoms more after they told me how I was doing in December 2002, when I found out I'd have to have a 3rd open heart surgery. I didn't "feel" the difference before, but after they told me surgery was needed soon, I did "notice" being tired, etc., much more so than I had before. I suppose I had grown accustomed to it and didn't think much about it....

As for your questions....

Q: What was the worst part (besides the waiting)?

A...Seeing friends (and some family members) struggle with how to relate to you. Not sure if that makes sense to anyone, but, as some of you may recall, I had a couple close friends "ignore" me right before and after surgery. That, unfortunately, was their way of dealing with the situation and the possibility that something might go wrong in the surgery. (Obviously, nothing went wrong because I am typing this response now. Go figure ).


Q: What part was not as bad as you feared?

A...Not coming out of it "alive" and "well". I was realizing (at the time) that I had a lot going for me (sometimes, I still wonder...LOL) and I didn't want to "go home" just yet .


Q: How long did it take after surgery for you to feel somewhat normal again (little or no pain).

A...Uh...

*raises eyebrow*

Is this a trick question? Is anyone "normal"?



Just kidding with ya a bit . I really had no pain...just discomfort...which didn't last "long"...maybe about a month or so. I was better once I was able to drive again .


Q: If you had to do it over again you would do what differently?

A...I eluded to this in another post yesterday, but I would definitely be more relaxed pre-surgery. I know sometimes I was a bit too "uptight" which didn't help family/friend matters. Also, I'd take _more_ time off work...to really feel better.


HTH!

Cort, "Mr Road Trip"/"The Uniter", 30swm w/pig valve & pacemaker
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[epstns]

Mike, You've really put some good questions together. I'm still awaiting surgery for aortic stenosis, and don't know when it may be required. I do remember that when I first researched the condition and its symptoms, I "felt" that I had developed all sorts of symptoms. That lasted about 2 weeks until my cardio fully explained my status and that I wasn't going to fall apart overnight. Admittedly, I'm still some years away from surgery, with a status of "moderate AS" but I have all of the same worries and concerns that you've voiced. I think you've elicited a great cross-section of responses -- maybe we should mark this thread for archiving somewhere.

 

[SteveK]

Mike, I want to try and calm your fears a little... I was in the same boat as you not too long ago and I am also from Michigan.

I read a lot of the posts, and as you can see if you have read many, one person will think something was terrible and another will think it was no big deal. This makes it hard to know what to expect.
I can tell you that for me nothing was worse than I expected, and most were not as bad as I expected.
- The breathing tube had me scared the most as it does most people; I barely remember it. I vaguely remember coming partially conscious and gagging a little, I heard a nurse telling me to calm down, and then I remember waking up without out it.
- I was terribly thirsty and enjoyed the ice chips as much as any cold beer I have ever had in my life.
- I had an orange popsicle later that was to die for. (unfortanately I through this up later and that was the most painful part of the whole thing)
- The tubes and wires coming out was not a big deal at all, I used a technique that the nurses showed me for getting out of bed - take a deep breath, and exhale, this helps with the pain of getting from a laying to a sitting position, from a sitting to standing position and for the removal of the tubes.
- I felt pretty good after about three weeks. The only time I was uncomfortable was in bed. By about 4-6 the pain starts to disappear completely. I am at 10 weeks and need to rehab my chest muscles somehow, because I have pain if I try to lift anything too heavy, (I need to be able to pull my bow this summer) but other than that I feel great. I had not symptoms that I could notice prior to surgery, but I think I feel better now because I am exercising regularly.
- I never had a catherization, so I can't help you there.

To me the worst part was unexpected completely, I had a lot of trouble sleeping at night. (I have always been the type to fall asleep in a few minutes) From the hospital to even at home for the first couple of weeks. The pain is not agonizing, its just that you can't get comfortable enough to fall asleep, and when I did I would wake up often in pain and would have to try and get comfortable again.
The hospital was the worst as I had a guy in my room who snored like a bear, left his TV on all night, and someone across the hall who had the dry heaves and moaned all night long.
At home I didn't have much pain during the day so I skipped the Vicodin during the day and had Ibuprofen instead, at night I took two vicadin before I went to bed and two in the middle of the night. This helped a ton! (The vicodin script was for 1-2 tablets every 4-6 hours as needed)

As far as what I would do differently I can't say anything right now. Hopefully I will always be able to say this as I went with a porcine biological valve at age 37, and I am hoping it lasts 20 years or more. If it only lasts 10, I may wish I had went with mechanical, but at this point I am enjoying the freedom of INR testing and all of the other issues that go with being on coumadin.

Good luck and hang in there, all will be fine in the long run!

 

[Raverlaw]

Mike,

Sorry to be repetitive, but here's my abbreviated take on things, from the point of a 49 year old guy who is three and a half weeks post op.

The angiogram (heart cath) is no big deal at all. 'Nuff said. You'll be walking around at home by the end of the day.

The surgery is a big deal, I won't kid you about that, but you'll be unconscious during it. Let your surgeon and his team do their thing. You will not be in agony afterward. When you wake up you will be a little stiff and uncomfortable, and there will be lots of plumbing and wires connected to you. They will keep you on pain medications, and if you hurt, just say the word; they'll fix it.

By the second day, your plumbing and wires will be mostly disconnected and you'll be walking around, marveling at how good you feel, all things considered. Do what your doctors tell you and you'll recover very quickly.

I don't want to do this again, and I shouldn't have to. The valve replacement saved my life. I walked five miles this morning in 83 minutes and felt GREAT! I'm better with each day that goes by, and when my daughter hugs me, she says "Daddy, I can hear you ticking. I'm so glad you got your heart fixed!"

I think that about says it all.

 

[Debrinha GT]

doubts

doubts

Hi Mike, if it makes you feel better, I've been having heart operations since the age of ten. Unfortunately, my mitral valve has started to show signs of calcification once again and here I am, re living the same old fears and anxiety. However, I'm the sort of person who really believes that when you can't beat your enemy, join him, and I always apply this to any trick situation I may have to face. In answer to some of your questions, well, I recall being wheeled into the OR as the most frightening moment because that was when reality took its tol on me and I felt so helpless and unsure of what would come next. On the other hand, when I woke up and opened my eyes, I couldn't care less whether I had the tubes, etc for all I could think at that moment was that I was alive and from them on nothing could go wrong! Heart caths can be uncomfortable but not such a big deal. I too have problems with symptoms and sometimes it's difficult to tell the difference between something actually being wrong or your mind playing tricks on you due to the fear that's involved. Your chest may hurt a bit when caughing so put a soft pillow against it. As for pain in general, It didn't prove to be a problem for me and I've never had much problem recovering from the surgeries. I turned 39 yesterday and I still hope to live for many years to come. You're going though a bad patch and all your feelings are perfectly natural especially for a first timer. If you want to learn more about my heart history you can click on STORIES on this site where I've written the whole thing in detail. I hope I've been able to help you at least a little. Débora

 

[NC-Cutie]

I can't say that I had any fears before my surgery. Like so many others, I was sick and tired of being sick and tired. I was at the point that walking up the stairs in my house put me out of breath. I was going to work, coming home and going to bed. My brother described me as being and "Old Woman" because I had no energy to do much. Once I got a second opinion and realized that surgery was necessary and soon, I started thinking about life after surgery. I had no ideal that I would have all of the anxiety after surgery that I have, but I find out through this site and the people who share, that it's not uncommon.
I don't remember my Cardiac Cath. I had it the day before my surgery and I was given Benadryl and Fentanyl. I was out. All I remember is going into the cath room, and coming out.
I too had very little pain. I feared having my chest tube and JP drain pulled out, but even that wasn't what I anticipated. They were very careful and it really didn't hurt. I also knew that I would wake up on the vent, and that frightened me, but once I woke up and realized I was still vented I started talking to myself telling myself not to panic. They came and took a Blood Gas time I woke up, and withing 10 minutes after waking, I was off the vent They asked if I wanted to get Out of bed and I did. I sat in a chair, and pretty much stayed in a recliner the entire 5 days I was in the hospital. The bed was not comfortable. I slept in the recliner. I was able to get up by myself althought I still had a JP drain in my lower chestwall. I could feel it pull sometimes when I got up and down, but I knew that it was intact and wasn't coming out. They didn't take it out until the day prior to my discharge, and it did not hurt like I thought it would.
I had a Mitral Valve Replacement, thus hopefully will not have to have another surgery. It is supposed to last for the average lifetime. If I have to have another surgery, I will go into it the same way I went in this time, PRAYED UP and In The Hands Of The Lord.
I remember spending an hour in pre-op, then being rolled to the prep room where resp. applies all the needles. I don't even remember them starting my IV. They put me to sleep in that room and I woke up 20 hours later after 7 hours of surgery. I had tubes, swn in my neck, bladder cath, arterial lines in both of my wrist, but I was ALIVE, and for the most part, THAT WAS ALL THAT MATTERED.

 

[Harpoon]

Guess I'll add to the ton of responses here just 'cause....

You know, it's kind of neat to see how many people CAN respond to these kinds of questions and how open those reponses are, just an observation.


What was the worst part (besides the waiting)?

For me it was how sick I got. I was very debilitated, stage IV congestive heart failure, depending on how you looked at it, I was dying.


What part was not as bad as you feared?
The actual surgeries. I don't know why, but I never really feared them. The first one (the vave replacement) I was kind of out of it and don't remember much of that day at all. My last operation (I had a few thorochotomies for internal bleeding, I was a mess) I didn't have any fear at all. We noticeda problem in the early morning and it was being monitored. By mid-morning I had an OR booked for 3pm and about 2:30 or so they came and got me. I never had any fear or apprehension. Just did it and I remember the oddest sensation of going from being on the OR table with doctors and technicians getting set up to laying in the pICU with a nurse trying to get me to respond to her...


How long did it take after surgery for you to feel somewhat normal again (little or no pain).
Ummmm.... I was a "special" case with a rather unique set of heart problems, not simply a bad valve. My answer is "atypical" so I won't share it here, though you're more than welcome to ask. =)


Is the catherization test (don't know technical term) prior to surgery really painful?
Nope. They use local anesthetics, that's probably the most "uncomfortable" and you get a strict 7-8 hours of bedrest afterwards to allow the incision sites to clot up. Some people react differently to laying on their backs for 8 hours straight. My back gets fussy and I would have KILLED for a back rub before they let me sit up, or at least a heating pad for my lower back.

That and the way your heart flutters around during the cath are probably the most significant aspects of it. The fluttering really caught my attention, but the doctor told me to expect it and she eased my concerns when it was happening.

If you had to do it over again you would do what differently?
Not much. Brought more music to listen to, less books (I couldn't sit and read for mroe than a few minutes without feeling fatigued)

If you get an MRI or a cath, ask about bringing a CD playoer or some CD's (for the MRI) They should be fairly accomidating and let you listen to your music during the procedures. That's very helpful.

I sat in an MRI scanner for clsoe to two hours because the computer kept crashing. Their "house" music was this easy listening elevator music radio station. I can still recite the weather and traffic reports from that day!!!